A Love Remembered

"Haru, the phone's for you!" Naoko called up the stairs towards her teenage daughter's room. In front of the large mirror next to her door, a tall brunette was giving her outfit a final look over. She had to pick up her long yellow skirt in order to reach her phone through the Halloween clutter. She crashed on the bed while answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Haru! Tsuge's outside, are you ready?"

"If you'd just told my mother to tell me that, I would've been down the stairs by now," the brunette laughed. "See you in two seconds." She put her phone back into the receiver and started over the clutter again. She snuck a last peak at her outfit while exiting her room and smiled inwardly.

One would think that the Cat Kingdom would have put her off yellow ball gowns, but for some reason, Haru couldn't think of anything she'd rather wear to the Halloween dance. It wasn't the exact same as the one the Cat King had forced her into wearing, and she was glad for the fact, since the original had been very uncomfortable.

'Of course, if you had a choice between dancing with Baron in an itchy gown and being alone in a comfortable one, you would go for the itchy one without complaint. You would have even put on make-up tonight to look like a cat if you didn't know it would look fake and take away from the outfit.' Haru smiled at her own thoughts as she grabbed a coat while putting on her shoes.

"I'll be back somewhere between ten and eleven, Mom."

"Have fun maiming boys, Sweetheart!" Her mother turned back to the red and green fabrics she was working with for the upcoming Christmas quilts. Haru grinned, knowing that her mother usually got pretty hyper around holiday seasons.

She ran out of the front door, Tsuge's familiar green car waiting for her. Hiromi was already out so Haru could climb in the back. She was sitting up front so her large fairy wings wouldn't get ruined, and her boyfriend looked like Zorro. He grinned at her as she delicately picked up her skirt to get in.

"You're really playing with fire if you show up at the dance like that, Haru. Machida's going a little crazy as is."

Hiromi slipped into her spot and lightly slugged him on the shoulder.

"Are you checking out my best friend?" she asked. He grinned at the two girls before taking off.

"No, just making a polite observation."

His girlfriend laughed, and left it alone.

It's funny. A year ago, Haru would have given her left arm to get Machida to look at her, and now she was struggling to get him to notice other girls. She even thought about skipping the dance to avoid him, but she really wanted to go. Just for the opportunity to relive some old memories in her head.

An orange cat came into her mind, smiling at her as he leaned down and jumped off a building, just in time for a crow to catch him. It took a lot of trust to do something like that.

'Baron's such a show-off, but I loved every minute of it.' Haru giggled softly, making her friends look back at her.

"Haru, is there something you would like to share?" Hiromi grinned at her friend's light blush. The brunette shook her head.

"Just trying to guess how many of each there will be of vampires, witches, and skeletons."

"And Jedi," Tsuge added. "I'm betting at least ten of those, even if they won't be allowed to keep the light sabers."

Both girls giggled.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Somehow, the school looked spookier at night, but Haru guessed that that was the general idea of Halloween night.

The couple had gotten out first and was now heading toward the school; the brunette extracted herself from the car and closed the door behind her to look up at the moon. It was full, creating a classic Halloween feel. Now all that needed to happen would be for someone to jump out and-

A cloaked figure flew from the other side of the car, arms extended towards her. Haru smoothly sidestepped the vampire, gracefully captured an extended arm, and twisted said arm behind his back.

She was grateful for the self-defense course she had started after returning from the Cat Kingdom. It wasn't like Baron could always protect her the way he had. The ghoul cried out in pain, her grip surprisingly strong.

"Come on, Machida; can't you think of a better way to get my attention?" she asked, causing him to laugh a little uneasily.

"Not really. Can I have my arm back? If you're going to keep it, could you at least walk to the side of me?"

The brunette jerked and released him. He turned to her, rubbing the arm defensively.

"I was kind of hoping that you'd keep it, but gently."

She smiled sadly.

"Sorry. I just don't see you that way."

"You used to, though."

"So? There's a big difference between 'used to' and 'do'." Inside her coat pocket, she gripped a new CD case for comfort. "I'll see you inside." She began dodging between the cars faster than he could keep up, her heart turning into lead. She knew she should give the guy a chance, since she didn't have one with the one she wanted. But, it felt so unfaithful to see a guy if she was thinking of someone else. And she was never good at lying. Good thing no one's ever asked here point-blank if she's been to an animal kingdom.

As she came close to the doors, nearly beating Tsuge and Hiromi to the entrance, her step suddenly froze. She looked up, trying to see if someone else was waiting to ambush her over the exit. But there were only shadows, so why did she feel like someone unknown was watching her?

"Haru? Are you okay?"

The brunette laughed a little shakily.

"Just getting into the Halloween spirit. Nothing to worry about." She snuck another peak at the shadows. Did she see something move? Tsuge laughed and grabbed one arm, a lovely lady now on both sides.

"Don't worry, Haru; I'll protect you from the darkness."

The sun maiden laughed, wishing that another had offered.

'Baron.' "If you keep flirting with me, Hiromi's going to put you in the doghouse."

"No; talking to chick-friends (well, I can't say girl friend) is completely off the record. Come on; I know you're dying to maim at least five of the boys that will want to dance with you."

Everyone laughed again, marching through the doors with interlocked arms.

Above the entrance, a figure lurked; glowing eyes locked on the angry vampire as he marched toward the school.

"You can't run from me forever, Haru. I'll get you yet," Machida muttered furiously.

The eyes narrowed, and a small hand made a fist in contempt.

"We'll just see about that…Machida," the figure whispered.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Haru was still gripping her CD case when she entered the gym. It was fairly standard for a high school dance; balloons, streamers, snack table, and a DJ dressed like Elvis. She headed for the last item and handed him the CD case.

"Why thank you, thank you very much, little lady. Is this appropriate?" he asked.

She nodded.

"It doesn't even have words, and it's a soft ballad. I'm not too picky about when you play it, but if you would at some time, I would appreciate it."

He smiled at her, and she could barely see her English teacher underneath the costume.

"Thank heaven, a nice request. You've made my night, Miss Yoshioka."

She grinned at him, on much better terms with the man, now that she wasn't late to class anymore. He looked at the label.

"Katzen Blut?"

"It means 'cat's blood', but don't worry. It's a beautiful piece, and it has an accordion." It had also taken several months to find it, after a few false leads. But it wasn't like she was in a position to ask for the song's name when the musician playing it was near. He laughed.

"Well, I guess I don't have to worry if it has an accordion. Now, Nurse Hashiki was very nice about coming this time, and I'm certain that you don't want her to get bored or anything."

Haru laughed. She had tried telling a few people that she could dance now, but she hadn't met anyone brave enough to test her since Baron. She bowed to her teacher and started looking for a few of her friends through the colored lights and disco ball, wondering as she went, why on earth did the school still have a disco ball?

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Only one of Tsuge's predictions came true. There was a grand total of fifteen Jedi present, and they had huddled into groups to talk about the unfairness of giving up their light sabers in order to be allowed on campus. The guys that did approach Haru only did so when they wanted someone to talk to, since she was a pretty good conversationalist. But they weren't dumb enough to ask her to dance, since she was the main reason the school nurse was required to come to school-sponsored parties now. But the fact didn't bother the brunette as much as it used to, or all the teasing she got for her dance attempts. The secret knowledge of her waltz with Baron was enough to comfort her, and hearing the waltz in this setting would help bring those magic moments back.

Machida was still not getting the point, barely moving from Haru's side while the other guys left to find dancing partners. The sun maiden's mind, however, was far from the dance. All she could see was green, a light yellow green-

"Who is he, Haru?"

She snapped back to attention.

"Who?"

He glared at her.

"The guy you apparently think is cooler than me. Is he here?"

She laughed.

"I would be shocked if he was. He tends to stick out in a crowd."

His eyes flamed. He should have guessed the reason for her indifference sooner.

"What's his name?"

"Why should it matter to you? You'll never meet him."

"What makes you so certain?"

She gave a dreamy smile.

"A number of things."

But then again, he's been known to crash parties before. She felt something brush against her dress. She looked down sharply and gasped.

Muta was inside the school! How'd he get in without anybody noticing? He grinned evilly at her, and then took a few steps away. He stopped, and turned around to look at her. She grinned back, getting the message loud and clear.

"Hey, is he a prop for the dance? That's strange-Haru! Where are you going?"

She was following the cat onto the dance floor. She didn't answer the teenage boy, but addressed the huge cat she was following between the dancing couples.

"If you put me through another labyrinth, I'll-" Muta never heard what Haru would do to him, because a guy dressed like a musketeer had bumped against her. She looked up to apologize, and gasped again.

Her white friend wasn't the only cat inside the school.

Baron grinned at her from behind his steel mask.